Of the 33 bulls on offer at the Limousin Cattle Society show and sale held at Dungannon Mart on Friday 16 November, 11 remained unsold.
It was a particularly slow start to the sale, with only four of the first 13 bulls put through the ring sold the first time around.
Top price
Despite that, it was actually the first animal into the ring that made the top price on the day. Offered by Richard Mowbray from the Droit herd in Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, the two-year-old Droit Minty went for 3,500 guineas (€3,932).
Sired by Ampertaine Gigolo, and out of the dam Haltcliffe Harriot, Minty has a Beef Value of 30, and sold to RM Sterritt in Newry.
The only other bull to make over 3,000gns was Derriaghy Noddy, the reserve male champion at Balmoral in 2018 and shown by David Green and sons from Lisburn.
Overall champion
This Norman Ely son, out of the dam Derriaghy Hermonie, was picked out as overall champion before the sale by judge Leanne Workman.
He has a beef value of 39, and was sold for 3,200gns (€3,595) to Oliver Cairns from Ballygawley, Co Tyrone.
The junior champion at the sale and reserve overall was Millgate Nemo, offered by Michael Loughran, Cookstown, Co Tyrone. He is also a Norman Ely son, and out of the dam Millgate Emma, and sold for 2,900gns (€3,258) to A McKnight from Antrim.
Two other bulls went at this price: Aghadolgan Noble, shown by Raymond Savage from Drumahoe, Co Derry, and Fairgreen Nipper, offered by T and C O’Reilly, from Keady in Co Armagh.
The bull with the highest beef value on offer was Raymond Savage’s Aghadolgan Neuf, which has a beef value of 50, and sold for 2,600gns (€2,921).
In total, 22 bulls sold to an average of £2,500 (€2,808).
Females
Seven females were also on offer, with six selling to an average of £2,067 (€2,322). Top price was the September 2017-born Hillviewfarm Nicky showed by Fermanagh breeder Adrian Richardson, which was sold for 3,300gns (€3,707).
